Certification of
Highly Accomplished and
Lead Teachers in SA
Welcome & Introduction
Mary Pickett ~ Adviser: Performance & Development
pickettm@ais.sa.edu.au
Aims
Outline:
National Certification of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers
process for SA Independent Schools from 2013
What? Why? How?
• Clarify process and requirements
• Timelines for AISSA schools
• Cost $1820
• Support for potential applicants
• Q and A
Preparation for today
 Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/
 Certification information & documents on AITSL website
http://www.newsroom.aitsl.edu.au/blog/teacher-certification
Principles & Processes
Guide (SA version still to be finalised)
Documentary Evidence Supplements (HA and Lead)
Evidence Mapping Documents (HA and Lead)
 AITSL Self-assessment tool
http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/
What is Certification?
National assessment of Highly Accomplished and Lead teachers
Using the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers which define the
work of teachers at 4 career stages and make high quality teaching explicit
 Optional
 5 years
 At own cost
Where does Certification fit?
Initial Teacher
Preparation
Registration
Certification
Teacher Quality
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework
The Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders
Teaching Career Stages
Graduate
Know
Understand
Demonstrate
Include
Improve
Proficient
(registration)
Effective
Apply
Design
Implement
Organise
Select
Create
Improve
Highly
Accomplished
Lead
Highly effective
Skilled
Innovative
Collaborative
Knowledgeable
Guide & assist
Model, advise &
support
Plan & evaluate
Modify
Develop
Expand
Analyse
Exemplary
Innovative
Lead
Inspire
Initiate
Review
Evaluate
In-depth
Promote
Empower
Analyse
Synthesise
Build capacity
Research
Principles of Certification
1. Standards-based
•
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
2. Student-improvement focused
•
•
•
learning
engagement in learning
wellbeing
3. Development driven
•
professional learning, performance assessment &
development
4. Credible
•
rigorous, valid, reliable, fair, consistent and transparent
5. Evidence-based
•
Best practice: what works in schools
Certification: Why?
recognition
opportunities
affirmation
growth
Teacher Quality & Professionalism
"Professionalism is knowing how to do it, when to do it and doing it.”
Frank Tygler
Certification: Why?
NATIONAL
 Supports the National Goals for Schools:
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008)
Improve quality of Australian teaching workforce
= improved student educational outcomes
 Recognise and promote quality teaching in Australia
 Enhance professionalism of Australian teachers
Certification: Why?
INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
 Teacher quality
 Exemplary teachers: model, inspire and lead colleagues
 Promote a professional learning & development culture
 Value, recognise and support excellent practitioners
 Indicator of school improvement
Certification: Why?
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL BENEFITS
 Professional learning, growth and development
 Reflect, seek feedback and strive to improve current practice
 Recognition and affirmation of quality teaching and excellence
 Career satisfaction, opportunities and progression
 Financial – will be up to sectors, systems and schools
Stages of Certification
Pre-assessment: Snapshot
Prior to commencing a certification application
teachers determine their eligibility and readiness to
apply for certification
1. Eligibility
2. Readiness
Pre-assessment: Eligibility
1. Australian citizen or have a permanent residency visa
2. Full registration with SA Teacher Registration Board
3. Recent annual performance assessments = satisfactory
• Highly Accomplished career stage = 2 years
• Lead career stage = 3 years
(referees can provide evidence of past performance if no formal process)
Teachers do not have to be certified as a Highly Accomplished teacher
before applying for Lead teacher status
Pre-assessment: Eligibility
4. Teaching Requirement
.
Applicants must an authentic teaching role
Must teach students over a period of time to enable them to
demonstrate achievement of the complete range of Standards
and Descriptors
No requirement for a specified number of hours or teaching
load, but the teacher must be responsible for:
 ongoing teaching program
 assessment of the students.
Pre-assessment: Readiness
1.
. Discussion with Principal
All applicants must conduct a professional discussion with their
Principal/supervisor regarding their readiness to apply for certification.
If the Principal is unavailable he/she may delegate to the Deputy/Assistant
Principal or an equivalent member of the senior leadership team of the
school/setting who has significant knowledge of the applicant’s practice.
Pre-assessment: Readiness
2. Self-Assessment
It is strongly recommended that the self-assessment tool be undertaken
by the teacher prior to commencing a certification application.
An online questionnaire which assesses a
teacher’s readiness to apply for certification,
by guiding them through a detailed selfanalysis of their current practice
http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/
Assessment Stage 1: Snapshot
The assessment of the collection of evidence submitted by the
applicant against the Standards
1. Annotated direct evidence of teacher practice
2. Classroom Observation reports
3. Teacher Reflection/Statement on the direct evidence
4. Referee statements
Evidence Types
Teaching and learning programs
 Classroom observations
 Reflection and feedback
 Student assessment and learning
 Collaboration and communication
 Professional learning
Ref: Certification documentary evidence supplements
Evidence
 Credible
 Robust & verifiable
 Authentic: drawn directly from the teacher’s work
 Demonstrate positive impact and improvement in
student outcomes
the practice of colleagues
 A true representation of the teacher’s impact over time
 Must clearly reflect the teacher’s individual contribution
Evidence Mindset
"What can be asserted
without evidence can also be
dismissed without evidence.”
Christopher Hitchens
As part of your every day practice:
think evidence-based  link to Standards/Descriptors
think improvement (students/colleagues)
think IMPACT (students/colleagues)
How will you know? How will others know?
What is the evidence?
Where is the evidence?
How & when am I going to:
 collect it
 organise it (portfolio)
 link it to the Standards
Stage 1: Your Collection of Evidence
Collectively needs to...
 demonstrate achievement of each of the 7 Standards and take
account of each of the Descriptors at the relevant career stage
Therefore...
each of the 7 Standards must be addressed by at least two pieces
of evidence, and
each of the descriptors (37) at the relevant career stage will be
accounted for at least once
Stage 1: Your Collection of Evidence
and your evidence must be effectively annotated to demonstrate:
 the impact of the teacher’s practice on improvement in student
outcomes:
 learning
 engagement in learning
 wellbeing
 the impact on the practice of colleagues
Stage 1: Evidence
An artefact is individual piece of evidence and/or linked extracts which
demonstrate a teacher’s achievement against 1 or more Descriptors
and are annotated to demonstrate improvement in student outcomes
and other’s practice.
An individual piece of evidence may address more than one annotation
and/or demonstrate more than one Standard/Descriptor
The collection of evidence is the entire submission of evidence
stand alone artefacts and/or
evidence sets: group of artefacts linked by a general theme
written statement
referee statements and
lead initiative description
Stage 1: Evidence
Approximately 35 quality artefacts or fewer
well-chosen,
high quality
effective
concise (quality over quantity).
Stage 1 Evidence: Annotations
Annotations provide effective commentary that enables an applicant to clearly
demonstrate how each artefact they have submitted explicitly addresses the
particular standard(s) and descriptor(s) and impact on student outcomes/
colleagues.
http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/CertificationEvidence
Stage 1 Evidence: Forms of Annotating
...include but are not limited to:
Annotation per Descriptor (approx. 150 words)
Annotation per Artefact – covering multiple Descriptors (approx. 350
words)
Annotation per Evidence set – covering multiple artefacts and
Descriptors (approx. 600 words)
A piece of evidence can address multiple descriptors within and across
standards and should demonstrate the holistic nature of a teacher’s practice.
Stage 1 Evidence: Annotations
CARE MODEL
Context: identify the Standard(s)/Descriptor(s) and make explicit
links between the evidence and these
Action: describe how the evidence demonstrates your contribution
and the achievement of the Descriptor
Result: Identify impact on student outcomes and/or the practice of
other colleagues
Evaluation: include analysis and reflection on practice and
identify your leading/supporting/sharing/modelling role
Stage 1 Evidence: indirect
A teacher in certain context may not be able to provide direct evidence for a
particular descriptor
Example: Focus Area 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torrens Strait
Islanders
Where a teacher has not had the opportunity to teach ABTSI students they could
provide indirect evidence linked to other areas of their practice.
Stage 1 Evidence: Observation Reports
Minimum of 2 observation reports (1 from the Principal/Delegate)
(part of the Collection of Evidence)
 provide feedback on the teacher’s classroom practice
 provide a clear link to the Standard(s)/Descriptor(s)
 annotations to be used to clearly show this link
 description of behaviour observed by the observer
 evaluative comments by the observer
AITSL – developing a template
Stage 1 Evidence: Teacher Written Statement
 addresses the Standards
 provides an overview of the teacher’s context and background highlights
 key features of evidence, refers to annotated artefacts
 provides a summary of major strengths against each of the 3 domains:
Professional : Knowledge, Practice & Engagement
No more than 3 single sided A4 pages
(or the equivalent when submitted online)
Stage 1: Lead Teacher Initiative
Lead only

implemented over a minimum of 6 months

linked to school and/or system initiatives

demonstrate the applicant’s leadership in design,
implementation, evaluation and review

demonstrate evidence of impact on colleagues’ knowledge,
practice and/or engagement.
No more than 2 x A4 pages
Stage 1: Referee Statements (3 – 5)
The evidence must be supported by referees
 statements to collectively provide coverage across all Standards;
 verify and provide evaluative statements of the evidence against the specific
focus area of the Standards of which they have direct knowledge;
 applicant’s Principal must be one of the referees; (*SA)
 Lead applicants must have at least 1 referee with knowledge of their lead initiative;
 assessors will contact the Principal and one other referee for further in-depth
comment as necessary. Verbal comments will be documented. (*SA)
Stage 1: Presentation format
Multiple formats, including:
 Hardcopy, print-based collection
 Electronic collection
 Combination collection
 Multimodal collection, including video, etc.
 Other formats by negotiation
 AITSL Certificate Evidence Mapping document recommended
http://www.aitsl.edu.au/verve/_resources/Highly_Accomplished_Certification_Evidence.pdf
3 copies need to be available or submitted if hard copy.
Stage 1: Decision-making
2 assessors will be appointed by AISSA
• Assessors independently assess evidence, then confer
• On-balance judgement* will be made
• 3rd assessor appointed if they cannot reach agreement
Assessors will make the final assessment and recommendation to
SATCom who will endorse or decline the recommendation based on the
assessment meeting the requirements of the certification process.
SATCom will formally certify the teacher.
Stage 1: Decision-making
On-balance judgment refers to ‘net’ or ‘overall’ judgment
Assessment will be at the level of the seven Standards.
Assessors will make an on-balance judgment about whether there is
sufficient evidence that each Standard has been demonstrated, based on the
evidence provided which takes account of each descriptor within that
Standard. Applicants who do not provide sufficient evidence of meeting any
of the seven Standards will not proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 1: Written report
A written feedback report will be provided to SATCcom which will then
go to the applicant:
 Successful applicants:
• areas of focus for the site visit may be identified
 Unsuccessful applicants:
• strengths and areas requiring further improvement will be identified
Stage 1: Unsuccessful Applicants
Applicants may request of the assessment process through AISSA.
The review does not include a review of the outcome of the assessment
or, of assessments of other applicants.
Unsuccessful applications for Lead teacher Stage 1 are not automatically
considered for Highly Accomplished but
• May apply and use substantially the same evidence but it will need to be annotated
again to demonstrate achievement at the Descriptors at the HA career stage
• Adjust written statement
• Must apply within 4 weeks (*SA) – no further cost.
Stage 2: Direct Assessment
Following successful completion of Stage 1 there will be a direct
assessment of teacher practice onsite by one of the previous
external assessors which includes:
1.
observation of classroom practice
2.
observation of other activities within school
(not compulsory – as negotiated)
3. professional discussion with applicant
4. professional discussion with principal/supervisor, and
with no more than 3 colleagues and others as negotiated
Stage 2: Decision making
The assessor will document the evidence provided during the
site visit and submit this to the second assessor (same
assessors as Stage 1).
Collaboratively they will decide whether the applicant meets all 7
Standards at the relevant career stage based on all the
evidence provided against the Standards at Stage 1 and 2.
Again a third assessor may be involved where the first two are
unable to reach a decision.
A further site visit may be held at the instigation of the assessors
where evidence remains inconclusive or insufficient.
Certification in SA
The SA Teacher Certification Committee (SATCcom*)
has oversight of the certification process in SA.
It has the responsibility for ensuring the SA Catholic,
Independent and government school sectors meet the
requirements for assessment and certification.
Certification in SA
In SA each sector is responsible for the application and
assessment process.
Further details will be available on the
AISSA website soon.
Certification in SA
Assessors & Assessor training
• National – run by AITSL
• Quality assurance and moderation
• Approx 50 hours online + face to face (3 days)
• July/August – SA based training (3 sectors) *tbc
Certification in SA
Independent School Teachers
$1820 – to be paid in 3 stages
Tax deductible
1. Registration of interest $50
2. Stage 1 $885
3. Stage 2 $885
Date:
Date:
Date:
Certification in SA
DRAFT Timelines
2013/2014
1. Registration of interest
2. Stage 1 submission
3. Stage 2
October 2013
February 2014
Term 2, 2014
Support: AISSA
• Updated information – link www.ais.sa.edu.au
• More information sessions Term 2
• Evidence Workshops June 3 – see AISSA Events page
• Assessor Training
• Collaboration: sector network groups, social media, etc
Mary Pickett - pickett@ais.sa.edu.au
Support: AITSL
Illustrations of Practice
Annotated artefacts (e.g. video, lesson plan or work sample) that shows what the
Professional Standards for Teachers look like in practice at a particular career stage.
http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations
Certification Evidence
The certification evidence pages contain examples of annotated artefacts and sets of
evidence that demonstrate the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the
Highly Accomplished and Lead career stages. These are designed to support
applicants to Certification of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers in Australia.
http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/CertificationEvidence
Support: AITSL
Classroom observation framework
Currently being developed by AITSL
Aligns with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
Main focus on classroom practice - Professional Practice domain
Self-Assessment Tool
Online questionnaire assessing a teacher’s
readiness to apply for certification, by guiding
them through a detailed self-analysis of their
current practice
http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/
Questions
Thank you